Defense set up the offense Friday as Thief River Falls out-scored Park Rapids Area 42-20 in a Heart O’ Lakes Conference North Division high school football match-up at Lowell T. Swenson Field.
A blocked punt and four interceptions led to four touchdowns for the Prowlers, who put 14 points on the board in each of the first three quarters for a 42-0 lead heading into the final period.
It was Thief River Falls’ first homecoming game win since 2011. The same two teams met in the Prowlers’ 2013 homecoming contest, with the Panthers rolling to a 34-7 victory.
“It feels good to win a homecoming game,” said Thief River Falls coach Aric Attig. “We got off to a great start. We scored on our first series, then forced a turnover and scored in two plays. That got the kids fired up.”
Thief River Falls was on the board just 2:42 into game with an 8-play, 71-yard drive that featured six Nathanael Holecek runs. He reached the end zone on a 7-yard carry through the middle. The start of a 6-for-6 performance on extra-point kicks by Brayden Ivaniszyn made it 7-0.
Park Rapids’ first offensive series had a starkly different outcome when Keenan Sorvig blocked a punt that the Prowlers recovered at the Panthers’ 14-yard line.
Holecek followed with runs of 11 and 3 yards for the touchdown.
A 15-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that produced a 21-0 scoreboard spread featured a successful midfield gamble when McLain Stennes, 6-1, 275-pound lineman, took a short snap on a fourth-and-ten fake punt and threw a pass to Jacob Joppru that went for a 30-yard gain to the Park Rapids 20.
Joppru then out-jumped a defensive back to wrestle away a Zeb Nelson pass in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown 2:44 into the second quarter.
Park Rapids Area put itself in position to get that one back with a 17-play drive that produced a first down at the Thief River Falls 6-yard line.
However, sophomore defensive back Derrick Newland came up with the first of his two interceptions when he stepped in front of a Jordan McCollum pass at the 3 and returned it to the 17 with 1:52 left in the quarter.
Thief River Falls then beat the Panthers’ defense and the clock down the field to score on a 37-yard Nelson pass to a streaking Grant Stewart in the end zone with time expired.
The two-touchdown swing made it 28-0 at the break.
Newland did it again on the first series of the second half when he put an abrupt end to an 11-play Park Rapids drive with an interception at the Thief River Falls 5-yard line that he returned to the 22.
TyJuan Brown sat on the bench in the first half as a disciplinary move, but the ball was put in his hands on the Prowlers’ second play of the third quarter and he promptly broke into the clear for a 79-yard touchdown run.
Six-foot, 240-pound defen-sive lineman Brody Poe reached up and snared a McCollum pass for a mid-field interception that turned into a 6-play, 48-yard touchdown drive and a 42-0 lead as Holecek took off on a 36-yard run with 8.3 seconds left in the third quarter.
Dominic Kruse also had an interception for the Prowlers.
“The turnovers were big,” acknowledged Attig. “We had athletes step up and make big plays – something we haven’t had in the first four games.”
Thief River Falls, coming off a 48-8 loss at Detroit Lakes a week earlier, improved to 2-3. The Panthers fell to 1-4.
“We made a lot fewer mistakes this week,” explained Attig. “The kids were a lot more aggressive and physical.”
Park Rapids played gamely at the end with three fourth quarter touchdown passes.
The first one was a 60-yarder from McCollum to Derek Porozinski on the first play of the final period. McCollum hit Dylan Weaver with an 8-yard scoring toss with 6:29 remaining and back-up quarterback Jake Dickinson found Jarrett Johnson open on the left side for a 27-yard score with 2:13 to go.
“For three quarters, we played a great football game,” offered Attig. “We knew they were going to throw the ball at the end, but we made some mistakes in our coverage.”
Thief River Falls has Friday games at home Oct. 3 against Perham and Oct. 10 vs. Pequot Lakes before finishing the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Roseau.
Scoring
1 2 3 4 T
Park Rapids 0 0 0 20 20
TRF 14 14 14 0 42
TRF – Nathanael Holecek, 7-yard run; Brayden Ivaniszyn kick.
TRF – Holecek, 3-yard run; Ivaniszyn kick.
TRF – Jacob Joppru, 23-yard pass from Zeb Nelson; Ivaniszyn kick.
TRF – Grant Stewart, 37-yard pass from Nelson; Ivaniszyn kick.
TRF – TyJuan Brown, 79-yard run; Ivaniszyn kick.
TRF – Holecek, 36-yard run; Ivaniszyn kick.
PR – Derek Porozinski, 60-yard pass from Jordan McCollum; Ben Baumgartner pass from McCollum.
PR – Dylan Weaver, 8-yard pass from McCollum; run failed.
PR – Jarrett Johnson, 27-yard pass from Jake Dickinson; run failed.
Team Statistics
n First downs – TRF 15, Park Rapids 21.
n Fumbles (total-lost) – TRF 2-0; Park Rapids 0-0.
n Penalties (number-yards) – TRF 5-50; Park Rapids 3-35.
n Punts (number-average) – TRF 3-28.3; Park Rapids 2-15.0.
n Rushing (attempts-yards) – TRF 42-304; Park Rapids 41-121.
n Passing – TRF 5-for-14, 111 yards; Park Rapids 15-for-29, 222 yards, 4 interceptions.
n Total yards – TRF 415; Park Rapids 343.
Individuals
n Rushing – (TRF) Nathanael Holecek 28-176; TyJuan Brown 3-87; Zeb Nelson 3-14; Devin Hutton 2-14; Brady Hoffard 2-9; Landon Kruckeberg 1-5; Michael Johnson 1-1; Noah Hawkins 1-0; Riley Bakken 1(-)2; (PR) Ben Baumgartner 12-48; Matt Bade 12-32; Jordan Yliniemi 6-15; Jon Burlingame 3-12; Jordan McCollum 3-8; Tristan Breitweser 2-4; Ben Garcelon 3-2.
n Passing – (TRF) Zeb Nelson 4-for-13, 81 yards, 1 touchdown; McLain Stennes 1-for-1, 30 yards; (PR) Jordan McCollum 14-for-27, 185 yards, 2 touchdowns, 4 interceptions; Jake Dickinson 1-for-2, 27 yards, 1 touchdown.
n Receiving – (TRF) Jacob Joppru 4-74; Grant Stewart 1-37; (PR) Derek Porozinski 7-124; Ben Baumgartner 3-22; Connor Byer 2-26; Jarrett Johnson 1-27; Jordan Yliniemi 1-15; Derek Weaver 1-8.